W&L’s Beck Receives an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Beck is the 22nd General to receive the distinction over the last 15 years.

By Brian LaubscherMarch 7, 2018

“My incredible professors, coaches, classmates, teammates and friends have all become a part of who I am today, and I’m just happy that this award will help me further pursue the passions and inspiration I found here at W&L.”

Gillen Beck ’18

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) released its fall 2017 postgraduate scholarship winners and senior men’s soccer player Gillen Beck (Blacksburg, Va. / Blacksburg) was among the 58 Division I, II and III student-athletes that were recognized.

Beck is the 22nd General to receive the distinction over the last 15 years, and 41 W&L athletes have been honored since 1970. Other recent recipients include golfer Conley Hurst ’17, tennis player Patricia Kirkland ’15 and swimmer Rick Sykes ’13.

“It really is an incredible honor to be selected for such a meaningful award,” said Beck. “Hazy practices after nights without leaving the library were a constant reminder of the struggle to balance academics and athletics. I suppose the award says that I managed to do so sufficiently, but nothing I’ve accomplished here can even compare to all that this campus has done for me.”

Beck continued “My incredible professors, coaches, classmates, teammates, and friends have all become a part of who I am today, and I’m just happy that this award will help me further pursue the passions and inspiration I found here at W&L.”

Beck was a four-year letterwinner as a goalkeeper and served as a team captain for his senior season. He started each of his final three seasons, earning All-ODAC honors as a sophomore, junior and senior, and claiming the ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete Award each of his final two seasons. Additionally, Beck was a two-time all-region honoree and he received CoSIDA Second Team Academic All-America laurels in 2017.

Over the course of his career, Beck played in 58 games, posting a 0.88 goals-against average and a .793 save percentage, while leading the Generals to one ODAC title and three NCAA Tournament berths.

The NCAA awards up to 174 postgraduate scholarships annually, 87 for men and 87 for women. Scholarships are awarded to student-athletes who excel both academically and athletically in intercollegiate athletics competition.

The one-time grants of $7,500 each are awarded for fall sports, winter sports and spring sports. Each sports season (fall, winter, spring), there are 29 scholarships available for men and 29 scholarships for women. The scholarships are one-time, non-renewable grants.